


BBRae Week 2020

by L363ND_W0LF



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Teen Titans (Animated Series), Teen Titans (Comics), Titans (Comics), Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:13:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25668001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/L363ND_W0LF/pseuds/L363ND_W0LF
Summary: BBRae week 2020 from tumblr.Day 1: Sunrise/SunsetDay 2: Old Wounds/NostalgiaDay 3: AU/GenderbendDay 4: GiftsDay 5: EmotionsDay 6: Domestic/ParenthoodDay 7: Growth
Relationships: Garfield Logan & Raven, Garfield Logan/Raven
Comments: 3
Kudos: 39





	1. Day 1: Sunrise/Sunset

Raven was not one to dwell on the past, nor the future. Regrets, doubts, thoughts of what should have been or would have — none of them were part of Azar’s teachings. In fact, the old woman had advised against those kinds of thoughts, saying that they would only serve to create further problems in the future. It had all started when Raven was still but a child, under the care of the elder. 

She had asked the older woman about her past, for Azar had forbidden anyone to tell her the truth about her parentage. Raven had suspected, correctly, that something had happened in her past to make all the Azarathians regard her with distrust, some even with outright hostility. But the wise, spiritual leader of the paradise dimension had merely said something along the lines of, “the past should not be something to dwell on. Your choices in the moment, and how they will affect your future, those are the ones to be contemplated upon.” 

Eventually, Raven had stopped asking, having heeded Azar’s guidance, and it was only when the demon lord had attempted his first invasion of Azarath that the elders finally relented and revealed to Raven the horrible truth. Even years later, the words of the late Azar sometimes whispered to her in stressful times, almost as if it was the old woman herself speaking into Raven’s ear. 

But today was different. Today, Raven would allow herself to think about the past; for today was her birthday. 

Was it but a coincidence that two years ago, she was standing in the exact same spot on the roof where Robin had found her, watching the hellish symbols start to appear on her skin, the rising sun giving the illusion that they glowed? Knowing that the world had only hours left before they were frozen in time, turned into rocky statues where they stood when she became the portal that her father had use to climb his way out of the fiery wasteland he was banished to? 

And yet here she was, two years later, despite her body being ripped apart by the portal. Here she was, surely about to be dragged into one of Starfire’s “party games,” or have to endure another argument between Cyborg and Beast Boy about the superiority of meat versus the ethics of vegetarianism, finding only a small bit of solace in the fact that Robin would also be forced to endure the same. 

Raven allowed a smile, however small it was, to cross her lips. Even if she didn’t show it, the antics of her friends were calming to her empathic senses, sharing in the joy and laughter that were quick to appear in the tower. 

“I thought you would be up here,” a voice behind her said. Raven jumped; she had been so lost in thought that she didn’t even sense Beast Boy’s prescence. 

“Should I expect the rest of the cavalry, too?” Raven asked. She watched as he sat down next to her on the edge of the roof, letting his legs swing back and forth, careful not to hit the metal sides. 

He chuckled at that. “No, not yet, anyway. Star and Cy aren’t up yet. Robin’s door was open, but he wasn’t in there when I looked. He’s probably in the gym.” 

“I see.” 

The two fell into silence, watching as the sun began to peek over the horizon, fingers of red, orange, and golden yellow outstretched across the sky like a painting. Beast Boy made an offhand comment about the sunrise, but Raven hadn’t really been paying attention to him. The two Titans had been dating for little over two months now (and Robin had won a bet between him and Cyborg about how long they would last before Raven banished him to one of the pits of hell). 

“So, um…happy birthday?” Beast Boy said, knowing how she hated her birthday — well, hated might have been a strong word — and how it simply brought back bad memories neither would have liked to relive. “Nineteen, huh? D’you feel any older, or…” 

“I’ll feel older when Starfire makes me play “games celebrating the day of your birth” and then drags me to the mall,” Raven replied. 

“Oh, come on, Raven, last year we were starting to get busy with all the Brotherhood of Evil stuff and we couldn’t celebrate properly,” Beast Boy teased. 

“I fear what celebrating properly insinuates,” Raven deadpanned, “if last year’s fiasco was considered not properly handled.” 

“Okay, well, we tried to stop Starfire from waking you up at dawn, so you can’t blame us for that,” he said, counting on his fingers the incidents that had occurred. “Second, that doesn’t mean it was my fault that you were in a bad mood all day.” 

Raven stared him down. “You seem to forget that you also smashed cake in my face on Cyborg’s dare.” 

Beast Boy chuckled, embarrassed. “Heh, yeah, my bad…but I promise that today’s going to be better, and I won’t smash cake, though I can’t vouch for Cy. And besides, don’t be upset at Star. She tries her best.” 

Raven opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by the sound of the door leading to the roof opening, and she saw a flash of orange before she was lifted off the ground by a very joyful Tamaranean. 

“Raven! Happy birthday!” Starfire squealed, and her emotions slammed into Raven like a brick wall, leaving her dazed as the alien subjected the empath to one of her infamous bone-crushing hugs. 

“Star, not too early, remember what happened last year,” Beast Boy warned. 

“Oh! My apologies,” Starfire exclaimed. “But I will not apologize for my enthusiasm, for today is a most joyful occasion! We shall make the pudding of friendship and sing the Tamaranean song of friendship which has twelve verses! And we shall also participate in the earthly custom of party games that will lift your spirits…” 

Starfire continued to ramble on about the day’s schedule, but Raven eventually tuned her out, following both her teammates to the door leading to the staircase. But just before she descended down the steps, Raven took one last look behind her at the sky. The shades of orange and pink were fading now as the sun finally rose up from the horizon, and Raven smiled at the thought of her friends a floor below planning out the day with her. 

She had come to Earth to find companionship; to try to make up for the deed she was destined for by trying to help as many people as she could, and not only did she find both, but she had also found a home, a place where she was accepted. She had beaten her father and was given a second chance at life without his influence guiding her every move, and Raven was grateful for that. 

She was startled out of her reverie by Beast Boy calling her name from the bottom of the stairs to the ops room. 

“Come on, Rae, before Starfire drags you down here!” 

“Don’t call me Rae,” she said, but with nowhere near the amount of barely suppressed anger that she normally held towards the nickname. 

Closing the door behind her and following her friends into the place she called home, Raven decided that maybe it wasn’t a bad thing to look towards the future after all.


	2. Day 2: Old Wounds/Nostalgia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not quite as proud of this one as the ones I’ve written so far, but here ya go.

“Who is it this time?” 

Raven turned her head to look at her husband of seventy years, whose eyes were focused on the road ahead, holding the steering wheel in his hands as he followed the directions on the GPS. She moved her eyes down the profile of his face. His fang poked out under his lip as it often did after he talked, his jawline sharp and defined, his hair long enough to fall in front of his eyes. Even after so long, she still thought he was handsome. 

He was nearing one hundred years old, yet he looked as young and robust as he had been during their crime fighting years. At the first glance of a stranger, he appeared to be in his late twenties, and not like he was turning ninety-five in three months. 

His incredible healing factor had all but stopped the process of aging. There was not even one strand of gray hair among his dark green locks, his eyes were as vibrant as ever, and the strong muscles under his skin only added to the illusion that he was much, much younger than he really was. 

Raven knew that if she looked at a picture of herself almost eighty years ago and compared it to the reflection she saw of herself in the mirror, she would have also looked the same; her eternal soul kept her body young, even when she was about the same age as Garfield. 

“From what I could tell, a minor demon. Not an archdemon nor a soldier of the legion, but still of a lower rank,” Raven answered carefully. 

“One of the Fallen, maybe?” Garfield mused. 

“Possibly. But this one sounded younger than the original group of rebellious angels. Perhaps a defector or a trickster demon. It even could have originated from a belief other than Christianity. They are not the only one with demons under the rug.” 

“Good thing they all have the same weaknesses,” Gar said. “Extra points that they’re weak to iron and you’re not.” 

“It still burns when I touch it, but not as fast or as bad,” Raven said. “Did you bring the holy water bullets this time? We don’t want another Vegas incident.” 

“Okay, well, last time I had checked they weren’t filled, and I don’t think it would have mattered. I broke a nail fighting that demon. Do you know how hard it is to clip a grizzly bear’s claw?” 

Raven nodded. “Point taken.” 

They lapsed into silence as Garfield continued to drive. Though the car they were driving did have a self-driving setting, Garfield preferred to drive himself. 

“I wish we could go back to those days,” Gar said quietly after a few miles. “I missed fighting villains and saving people. I miss the Titans.” 

Raven looked at her husband again; she knew exactly what he was talking about. Gar hadn’t worn his uniform in decades, even though he still shifted, especially during hunts like the one they were on now. Instead, he had clothes made out of the same fabric material as his uniform so that they didn’t tear when he had to shift. They’d worn their uniforms for a few more years after the rest of the Titans retired, since they were inducted into the Justice League, but when every hero they knew in their heyday hung up their own costumes, so had Gar and Raven. 

“I miss them too, Gar,” Raven assured him. “But we cannot go back; the legends they tell about us are just that, legends. They don’t remember nor care about us anymore. We can help in our own way, by hunting down demons and sending them back to hell.” 

“I know, I just…” he paused, his emotions obviously conflicted. Raven began to reach out to his mind, but pulled back when she remembered the promise she had made to Garfield. She would not probe his emotions for answers when he was distressed, but would wait until he was ready to talk about whatever thoughts were plaguing him. 

“You just what, Garfield?” Raven asked softly, trying not to sound like she was pressing him for information. She placed her hand on his forearm, and Gar looked down at it for a moment before turning his eyes back to the road. 

Sighing, he said, “sometimes, when I see what the League has accomplished or hear of their victories…I miss Vic’s cooking, Kori’s positivity, Roy being a bit of an ass, Wally’s hyperactivity, Donna being the mother hen, and Dick doing his own thing. I miss being part of a team and being part of a cause for the greater good is all.” 

Garfield pulled into the parking lot of the park reserve where they were called to take care of a minor demon problem, and turning off the engine, sighing. “Don’t worry about it, Rae. It’s not important.” 

Raven’s hand shot forward and she stopped him from opening the car door. “When it comes to your happiness and emotional well-being, it does matter,” Raven whispered. “Everything we’ve built together won’t matter if you are not happy.” She thought for a second, an idea dawning on her. “When we finish with this hunt, we can go see about signing up as a reserve. We were full time members of the Justice League before the New League, perhaps they will consider us a candidate for the reserve members. We will help them if they need any, but when we are not needed we continue with the hunts.” 

Garfield’s demeanor brightened at that. “Really? You’d do that?” 

Raven ducked her head in shyness. “It only makes sense, since the demon hunts were more of my idea…” 

Gar finally smiled. “Okay,” he said, “after this, of course.” He stepped out of the car, shutting the door and stretching after their long bout in the car. “If only Dick could see me now. He’d be like, ‘stop being so nostalgic, you have a job to do, blah blah blah.’” 

Raven smirked as she slid a knife made of iron that was designed to cause harm to demons into the sheath at her hip. “He’d also tell you to stop mocking him.” 

“Ha ha, very funny,” Gar said, taking the sawed-off shotgun that was loaded with hollow bullets filled with holy water. 

“On the other hand, we do have a job to do,” Raven said. “The park ranger who called said they recently got some local paranormal hunters to investigate the land since cases of strange activity started coming in two months ago. Those hunters reported very high demonic activity, and there may even be more than one demon. They’re on the lower end of Hell’s hierarchy, but the level of activity is quite high.” Raven’s smirk returned. “Ready to evict some demons?” 

Gar returned her smile, loaded the shotgun with a clack, swung it over his shoulder like he was the Terminator, and nodded. “Let’s go kick Hell’s ass.”


	3. Day 3: AUs/Genderbent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a discussion on the bbrae discord about a cat coffee shop AU, and I was granted permission by the people involved with the ideas to write them out as day 3’s prompt. They include:  
> AvaChanel: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaChanel  
> Lou Buggins: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loubuggins  
> Serrj215 https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serrj215
> 
> The OoOoOoOs are line breakers, and separate different days that Raven is at Gar’s work.

Raven wasn’t sure what was more ridiculous — the fact that she was having coffee in a cat cafe about to order a catsmine tea of all things, or that the guy Kori intended on setting Raven up on a date with one of the baristas. 

She took in said barista’s outfit — fuzzy cat ear headbands and an apron that had a picture of a cat playing with a ball of yarn, with the slogan “we will pour you the purrrfect cup” emblazoned in the middle, and briefly wondered why she had even agreed to let Kori set up her dates. 

“Kori, welcome back,” the young man said warmly. “And I’m guessing this is Raven?” 

Kori nodded enthusiastically. “In the flesh.” 

The barista offered his hand to Raven to shake. “Hey, my name’s Logan. Garfield Logan.” 

Raven stared up at Garfield’s green eyes. They weren’t bright like Kori’s were, but were striking nonetheless. He was young, possibly college-aged, and his blonde hair was long enough to cover his eyes. In constrast to the dark and brooding personalities she was normally attracted to, Garfield was all smiles and happiness. 

“Do you have to purr?” Raven asked dryly, ignoring his outstretched hand. 

Garfield smiled and winked at her. “Only if you make me,” he said. 

Noticing the confused look on Raven’s face, Kori stepped in. “I’ll have the capurrr-ccino, Gar, as usual, and will you get anything, Raven?” 

Raven snapped to attention at her name. “Uh, yes. I’ll have a jasmine tea.” 

Garfield nodded. “One capurrr-ccino with extra sugar and one catsmine tea…” he mumbled to himself, scribbling the orders down on a pad of paper. “I’ll get those ready for you right away.” 

Once Garfield walked away to put in their order, Raven turned to Kori and hissed, “you set me up with the _cat boy?! _The guy you hit it off with last time we were here and who pretty much is a cat whisperer?”__

__Kori looked confused. “What’s wrong with Garfield? I had Dick run a thorough background check, he’s got a sparkling clean record. The guy has never even jaywalked.”_ _

__“Did you see him? He isn’t really my type,” Raven whispered harshly (though she did have to admit that he was cute, not in Kori’s face of course). “He’s more…your type.”_ _

__Kori wore an amused look. “Of course he’s not your type; he isn’t a convicted felon. Besides, maybe you need a new ‘type,’” she said, emphasizing the last part with air quotes._ _

__Raven frowned. “Is there something wrong with my type?”_ _

__“Raven, the last guy you dated tried to sacrifice you to a blood cult,” Kori said, incredulous that her friend wasn’t getting the point. “The guy before that left your car on blocks, and the only thing he left in there was the stereo with a Radiohead CD still stuck in it. There was that one guy who was an assassin for the Mafia…what was his name? Donnie? Dwayne?”_ _

__“Damian,” Raven answered, irked that Kori had brought up her failed dating track record._ _

__“Right, and the cops nearly hauled you off to jail under suspicion when they caught up with him. Then that Wally kid was guilt-tripping you into dating him, and that asshole Eric tried to date-rape you, and —”_ _

__“Okay, I get it,” Raven interrupted before her friend went off on a tangent and listed every bad quality of all the boyfriends she had in the past. “But you know I don’t date blondes, Kori.”_ _

__She rolled her eyes. “He can dye his hair, Raven.”_ _

__“He’s always laughing and smiling.”_ _

__“As opposed to pouting and frowning?” Kori countered._ _

__Raven had no argument for that, and tried to find another back way out of the date Kori had set her up with. “His…jeans are too tight.”_ _

__Her friend looked at her like she had spontaneously grown four eyes. “So you can see his butt better,” she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world._ _

__Raven tried to make Kori back down by giving her one of her trademark glares, but Kori only stared back, her bright green eyes defiant. “I really don’t see what the big deal is, Raven. He likes cats, you like cats — ”_ _

__“I don’t like cats,” Raven cut her off, and tried to ignore the fat cat that had sitting at her feet and gazing up at her lovingly for the past ten minutes._ _

__“…you don’t?”_ _

__“No.”_ _

__“Well, you wrote about this place for your journal, you said, and I quote, “the coffee there is as flavorful as sandpaper but the barista serving it there is cute.” Were you not talking about Garfield?” Kori asked._ _

__Raven started to say no, but was interrupted when the cat finally had enough of being ignored and jumped onto her lap. She instinctively put her arms around the chubby thing so it wouldn’t fall and break its puny little bones (though, having seen the amount of fat on the cat’s body, Raven thought it would probably just bounce on the ground like a rubber ball instead of taking any damage)._ _

__Kori chuckled. “Those cats you say you don’t like seem to like you.”_ _

__“Okayyy, capurrr-ccino for Kori, and a meow-ca for Raven,” Garfield announced upon his return with their drinks, setting them down on the table carefully._ _

__“Thank you, Gar. Say, why don’t you pull up a chair, tell us about yourself? Last time we were here we had to leave to run some errands, but I made sure no appointments were booked for today,” Kori said, shooting a look at Raven._ _

__Gar brightened, and his smile grew bigger, if that were possible. “Sure. Funny story, I actually got this job because a friend of mine…”_ _

__Raven generally wasn’t really paying attention to whatever Garfield and Kori were talking about, only tuning in to offer her opinion on something or nodding occasionally when appropriate, making it look like she was listening, but she came out of her daze when Kori asked about what Gar did outside of the cafe._ _

__“Well, I’ve been looking around…my mom was an actress so I tried to get a few gigs as an actor but I’ve only really been in a few cat food commercials, ironically.”_ _

__“You could try underwear modeling,” Kori said, only half-joking. Across from her, Raven spit out her drink, quickly wiping it up with a spare napkin._ _

__“Heh, thanks…though I’m more of a boxers than a briefs kind of guy…”_ _

__Kori smirked, making direct eye contact with Raven. “I bet you are,” she said, and Raven felt the sudden need to change the subject before it got any more uncomfortable for either parties._ _

__“So if not acting, then what do you do?” She asked. “Surely you can’t run off just tips and hourly pay here.”_ _

__“I sing in a band,” Gar said. “Nothing big, just a local one. We just played a gig last Friday, actually._ _

__“Oh, nice,” Kori said. “Raven here is a freelance journalist. She wrote a review for the past month and mentioned how the barista serving the coffee here was cute, so I decided that since Raven here has been so lonely, I would set up a date with you guys.” Kori pushed her foot down on Raven’s underneath the table to keep her from saying anything, and Raven, seeing that she was adamant about the meeting, said nothing._ _

__“That’s a beautiful name, almost as beautiful as you — wait, that sounds really wrong, I didn’t mean it like that, even though you are beautiful — god, I didn’t mean to say that, I’m trying not to sound creepy or anything but I don’t know how to compliment you without making you feel like I’m a perv…”_ _

__Raven kept a calm demeanor, even though she had to admit, something about Garfield was charming,_ _

__OoOoOoO_ _

__“What in the hell…”_ _

__Garfield couldn’t meet her eyes, and stared at the tiled floor as if embarrassed. The newly dyed strands of hair hung in front of his face, and a stray thought crossed Raven’s mind as she stared at the boy in front of her — he would’ve looked even cuter blushing like that, if the cat ears hadn’t made everything look so ridiculous._ _

__“…did you do to your hair?” Raven continued._ _

__“Kori said you didn’t like blondes,” Garfield answered bashfully. “So I took a logical step…”_ _

__“That doesn’t mean you dye your hair green,” Raven said, incredulous. “And those cat ears are only making it worse.”_ _

__“Well, some guy on the subway complimented my Hulk cosplay, so I’m thinking it’s a win-win.”_ _

__Raven sighed in exasperation. She didn’t even know who this Hulk character was, but she figured he was someone from one of Gar’s comic books. “Still…aren’t you worried you’ll stain your cat ears?”_ _

__“These things…? Oh, no big deal. It’s washable dye, I can just rinse it off in the sink if that happens. Speaking of, shop closes up in about twenty minutes, so I’ll, uh…get you your tea?” He offered._ _

__Raven nodded her thanks, watching Garfield walk away, and upon the feeling of something brushing her leg, looked down to see the fat cat from her last visit to the cafe with Kori staring up at her. Reaching down, she scratched the cat behind the ears, and it rubbed its face against her knuckles. It threaded itself around Raven’s legs, meowing softly at her._ _

__“Here’s your drink, Miss Raven, and — oh, hey, Gar, haven’t seen you up and moving since Roy spilled those croutons on the floor,” Garfield said a few moments later when he returned with Raven’s tea._ _

__“Gar?” Raven asked, eyebrows shooting up. “Like Garfield? The cat?”_ _

__Gar, the human, chuckled. “Yeah, Roy found this little guy out of the back alley picking through the garbage. He spoiled him rotten and gave the cat food at every opportunity he could until he got so fat he rarely ever moves anymore. Vic started calling him Garfield, so it makes for a lot of double jokes here…anyway, I gotta close up shop now and get the place ready for tomorrow, so, uh…do you…wanna go out sometime?” Garfield asked hopefully._ _

__Raven looked at him oddly. “And what have these days at the cafe been?”_ _

__“Well, I don’t think having a coffee at the place where the guy works is really an ideal place for a proper date…I could take you to see a movie and then we can go have dinner? That’s the general definition of a date, right?”_ _

__Raven sighed, but she let a smile cross her lips. “Okay. Fine. What day?”_ _

__The instant Garfield’s boyish smile turned into a smirk, she knew where he was going with this, but she prayed that he would not stoop so low._ _

__“Y’know, I was thinking…Caturday?”_ _

__Raven groaned._ _

__“Okay, okay…Purrrsday?”_ _

__“Garfield, if you do not stop with the cat puns I will dump my water over your head.”_ _

__“Caturday it is,” Gar announced, and just barely avoided an incoming splash of water from Raven’s thermos. “It’s a date, then?”_ _

__Raven’s frown softened a little bit and she nodded. “Saturday. Text me when you’re done closing.”_ _

__Raven left the cafe, leaving a yowling fat cat behind in her wake, and when Garfield saw her step into her car, he turned away with a wide grin on his face._ _

__“Yes!” He cheered, pumping a fist in the air._ _

__OoOoOoO_ _

__Raven cracked a tiny smile as she watched the fat cat amble over towards her, and picked Garfield up, offering him a piece of ham from her deli sandwich. He cautiously sniffed it before deciding it was not poisonous, and he took the small morsel, rubbing his face into Raven’s stomach and purring. One of the baristas looked over and yelled out to the people working in the kitchen._ _

__“Hey! Garfield loves Raven!” He whisper-shouted to the employees._ _

__Garfield the cat perked up slightly at his name, but settled down when he saw that the barista did not have a treat for him, and continued to let Raven scratch him behind the ear._ _

__However, poor Garfield the human, who was getting Raven’s drink ready, blushed about twenty shades of red. He had not seen the usually lazy cat make its way to Raven’s lap, something it never did to any of the other employees or diners except for himself, and assumed that his coworker was talking about Garfield the human. He shot a look at the barista who had just announced to the whole cafe that Gar had developed a massive crush on the mysterious beauty._ _

__“Vic!” He hissed, looking around to see if anyone was staring at him. “You — you can’t just go around telling people about — about that! That’s like telling everyone that Peter Parker is Spider-Man!”_ _

__“Whoa, chill out, little dude,” Victor said in confusion, bringing his hands up in mock surrender. “I was talking about the cat.”_ _

__Gar blinked rapidly and stole a look at Raven, who was sitting in the middle of one of the love seats, reading, along with a certain similar-named fat cat. He whirled to face Vic, who was now sporting a mischievous grin. “Vic, I swear to god, if you go around telling people about this you are going to be in some very deep doo-doo,” Gar said sternly, poking a finger in Vic’s chest._ _

__“Okay, okay, I won’t tell anyone,” Vic relented, “if you tell me how you got Mega Monkeys 9 Ultimate at a discount.”_ _

__Gar looked over at his shoulder at Raven, still petting the cat, and gritted his teeth. “Alright, fine. But if word gets out about this, I will lay into you so hard you’ll feel it ten years from now!” OoOoOoO_ _

__“Did you see the look on that guy’s face? I kicked his ass in Fruit Ninja so hard Gordon Ramsay would’ve been proud!”_ _

__Raven let a wry smile cross her face as she recalled the moment Gar had beaten his teenage opponent in the video game. It had been Garfield’s birthday as well as their date, and Raven had surprised him with a Dave & Buster’s card for unlimited play. Raven had to admit she had fun as well, helping Garfield win in Terminator: Salvation and groaning in exasperation when he had used his tickets to get a large Pusheen cat plush. They had dinner at the sports bar, and Raven had surprised him when he found that she didn’t mind baseball, and they cheered on the local team when they played a game on the large television. _ _

__“How are you going to fit that in your car?” Raven asked in reference to the large cat plush. “It’s way too big to fit in that backseat of yours.”_ _

__Gar narrowed his eyes in challenge. “I’ll show you,” he said, opening the back door and shoving the plush into the car quickly so it wouldn't get soaked by the rain. Once he realized it wouldn’t fit like that, he began moving his stuff in the back until he could finally place it on the backseat._ _

__“There,” he said, closing the door and brushing his hands off like it was no big deal. “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?”_ _

__Raven rolled her eyes and sat in the passenger seat of the car as Garfield began to drive her home._ _

__Once Gar pulled up in her driveway, he escorted her to her front door. Raven was about to bid him good night and open the door when his voice broke the sound of the rain._ _

__“Uh…Rae?”_ _

__Raven removed her hand from the door handle and turned back, curious. “Yes, Garfield?” She asked._ _

__He suddenly gained a deep interest in his shoes as he avoided her gaze. “Today was fun. One of the best days of my life.”_ _

__Raven smiled softly at him. “Anything for you, Garfield.”_ _

__Gar looked up, and before Raven could do anything else he stepped forward, cupped her face in his hands, and placed his lips on hers. Raven responded in kind, and was about to wrap her arms around his neck when suddenly —_ _

__Plop._ _

__Raven recoiled at the feeling of something dripping onto her face, and when she raised a finger to touch the strange substance, her finger came away green. Looking up at Garfield, who was looking confused by her withdrawal, she understood immediately upon sight of his dyed hair._ _

__He hadn’t been standing underneath the overhang, and the rain had dripped onto his head and his hair dye, being washable, had rinsed out, and was dripping onto Raven’s face. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on the point of view, Garfield immediately recognized that the green-colored water was rain mixed with dye from his hair, and he paled, starting to apologize profusely. All he could cognitively think of was how he messed up his one chance to kiss her, and the apologies fell out of his mouth like word vomit._ _

__Finally, Raven stopped his babbling by gripping him by the front of his shirt, pulling him close, and kissing him again. His lips tasted like spearmint, and Raven couldn’t help but want more of the taste. She pulled away from him only to breathe, and stepped away from him, a shy smile on her face._ _

__“Goodnight, Garfield,” she said, and retreated into her home, softly closing the door._ _

__He stood rooted to the ground, staring at the front door almost in shock, before he shook his head and walked back to his car. Once in, he let out a whoop, pumped a fist in the, air and accidentally hit the ceiling, pulling back his hand with a wince. He caught sight of the plush he left in the back, staring ahead with a tiny smile on its face._ _

__“Yeah, that’s about how I feel right now,” Gar said, and pulled out of the driveway, the smile not leaving his face the whole drive home._ _


	4. Day 4: Gifts

Gar thought the others would have known better than to let Jason organize his birthday party. After all, if he were to take a guess, then the sloppily-applied green wallpaper and painted green balloons in the shape of a tiger were probably his idea. Never mind the fact that Gar had learned to turn into a snake and a falcon, the nickname “Tiger Boy” from his earlier days of a singular transformation had stuck, and especially so with the teenage Robin. 

At least Gar took solace in Jason also having a nickname for Kori — Sun Girl, to be exact — though he valued his head too much to say it in front of her. 

The others had tried to make amends, ordering various “happy 16th birthday” balloons and a cake in the shape of a G, but no one had tried to take the wallpaper down. Hank had tried that earlier, but the next time he came in the room, the wall had simply been acquainted with another sheet. 

Dick had tried to make a pizza for dinner, but when the pizza came out burnt Dawn had simply suggested they get takeout instead, and they ended up having to get another two large boxes when Conner ate two all by himself, saying that it was the most delicious thing he had ever eaten. 

Then it was finally time for Gar to receive his birthday gifts. Dick walked into the living room, arms full of wrapped boxes, and set them on the kitchen table. Picking up a long cylindrical object from the pile, Gar removed the wrapping paper to reveal a long and elegant sword, still in its scabbard. 

“From Jason, a genuine 15th century Japanese tachi sword with its original sheath made from bamboo!” 

“Alfred gave me that from his collection…he’d be pretty pissed if anything happened to it, so don’t bring it into fights.” 

“From Hank and Dawn, a $50 gift card for Xbox Live and a $50 gift card for Steam!” 

“Hank didn’t know what else you liked, so he insisted we just get you these…” 

“From Conner, two tickets to San Diego Comic-Con in September!” 

“Dick’s suggestion. Maybe you can show me who this Vader guy is when we go.” 

“And from me, a suit engineered by a collaboration on the parts of S.T.A.R. Labs and WayneTech,” Dick explained. “The fabric is made so that it won’t rip when you shift, so you won’t have to worry about modesty upon reverting back to normal. Kori took care of the designs, and Bruce threw in the boots and gloves for good measure.” 

Gar took the red-and-white color-schemed outfit, and Dick nodded at him with a small smile, as if encouraging him to try it on. Running into the bathroom, he stripped down and pulled on the pants and shirt. The shirt was short-sleeved and mostly red, with a downwards-pointing white triangle in the middle of his chest and in the back when he turned, the cuffs also white. The combat boots were also white, and were connected to the belt with white stripes going down the outside of his legs. The fingerless gloves were gray, with black studs for the knuckles. Tapping on them, Gar found they were made of metal, but when he slid them on the gloves almost didn’t feel like they were there. Grinning to himself, Gar started to turn into a tiger. 

A few months ago, after Donna’s death and Rachel’s departure, Dick had suggested that Gar work on his shifting ability, first focusing on the time it took for him to shift between forms. He now had it down to where he could shift in three seconds or less, a major improvement from his previous ten seconds to shift. His joints throbbed a little when he transformed that fast, but the discomfort was quick to recede when he started moving. 

Leaving the bathroom and walking back towards the living room where the rest of the team were waiting, Gar laid down and worked on shifting back, slightly concerned about the outfit. It hadn’t been tested on him before, and he didn’t want to ruin the work put into it. 

But to his surprise and relief, when he returned to human form he was still wearing the uniform. The others confirmed there were no tears or tips in the suit, and after a few hours of party games and him being treated to the sight of a drunk Kori, Gar thanked everyone for eventful day, and bid the others good night, retreating into his room for the night. 

OoOoOoO 

Gar awoke to the sound of someone softly knocking on his door, and briefly wondered who would be up this late. Kori would be out for the next twelve hours, neither Jason nor Hank would be knocking that softly, Dick valued his sleep, Rose would never, and if he was even up, Conner would be dealing with Krypto, and not bothering anyone else, leaving a very low possibility that it could be Dawn. 

Gar rolled out of bed and groggily pulled on the nearest shirt, walking towards the door and pulling it open. He blinked a few times to adjust to the lights in the hallway, and almost thought he was dreaming when he saw Rachel standing there. 

She looked much older than when everyone had last seen her, and had grown a few inches as well. Her hair was black, possibly due to hair dye, or it was her natural hair color (he had doubted anyone’s natural hair color was purple when he fist met her, but had not commented on that). Her stone was still situated in the middle of her forehead where her father had placed it, and she seemed to be wearing some kind of traditional cloak and dress, with gauntlets resembling the Amazonian armor Donna had worn. 

“Rachel?” Gar asked, pinching his forearm to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. 

A small corner of her lip turned upwards. “No need to pinch yourself,” she said. “You’re not dreaming.” 

“Are you alright? Is Donna — ” 

“Donna is…alive. The Amazons may sound primitive, but their magical ability is astounding. Don’t tell the others, though, because she wants it to be a surprise when she returns. As for me…” Rachel trailed off. “I don’t have much time remaining. Antiope only gave me five minutes to visit you.” 

“What? Who?” Gar asked, still confused about her sudden appearance at his door at midnight. 

“My teacher. But I recall you said today was your birthday, so I wanted to pop in and say happy birthday.” 

“Thanks, Rach,” Gar said, his fingers twitching. He really, really wanted to hug her, but wasn’t sure if she would allow it. 

“I didn’t get you anything from Themyscira,” Rachel continued, “so no magical swords or lassoes, but I will give you this.” 

“What?” Gar managed to ask, before she placed one hand on his cheek, leaned in, and kissed him. 

It happened so fast that by the time Gar registered what had occurred and thought he should respond back, Rachel had already withdrawn and taken a step back. Still too shocked to say or do anything, Gar stared blankly at her, and she smiled. 

“Happy birthday, Gar,” she whispered, before she disappeared just as quickly as she had appeared, having been warped back to Themyscira. 

Gar quickly retreated back into his room, apprehensive that someone would have came upon him standing in the middle of the hallway, staring at the wall like a fool, and question him on what happened, and he would have had a lot of explaining to do.


End file.
